Hello again from your pal Louis Butelli, currently playing Bardolph (and others) in Henry V at the Folger Theatre. I do hope you’ve already booked your tickets, because there don’t seem to be many left to book. We’ve had a big, record-breaking audience, and we’re having an excellent time, which is very, very cool indeed. As such, Henry Vhas extended its run through March 10th. We’d love for you to come see us, so please click here for tickets!

Which brings me to the topic of today’s post. The incredible Richard Sheridan Willis, currently playing the role of “Chorus,” had another theatrical engagement lined up when he accepted Henry V, the dates of which conflict with our extension. Terrifyingly enough, this means that Richard is leaving us next week, and that another actor from within the company will need to shift and put on the very big shoes Richard leaves behind.

Richard Sheridan Willis, who will sadly be leaving the cast of Henry V on March 3. Photo by Scott Suchman.

Richard’s performance has been uniformly praised in the press (he “haunts the stage like a mournful ghost,” reads one evocative quote from the Washingtonian) and serves as a narrative linch-pin for our story. I ask you now to imagine the nervousness that might strike that poor actor’s heart that has to take on the task of stepping in for that guy. I ask you this because the job has fallen…to me.

Yup! Beginning March 5th, Iwill be playing the role of the Chorus, and the very cool Dylan Myers will be taking over for me as Bardolph (and others) in Henry V.

I just have to take a second here to say what huge respect I have for the understudies of Henry V: Carol Spring, Doug Krehbel, Emily Joshi-Powell, Eva Wilhelm, Will Cooke, Ed Christian, and Chris Genebach – but most particularly for the heroics of Andrew Schwartz, Pomme Koch, and Dylan Myers, and stage management team Che Wernsman, Alicia Sells, and Jimmie Kramer, who all hit it out of the park during a particularly crazy week. Y’all are incredible.

Still…

I can’t help but be a little nervous about taking on a different role in the show. We’ve been running since January 22 and Tuesday, 2/26 is our 40th show. The performances have all deepened, the relationships have been more fully fleshed out, and the show is truly a well-oiled machine. For a superstitious and ritualistic actor like myself (see here), even a small change in routine can leave me in something of a tizzy. For me, what is about to happen is a total seismic shift. New lines, new costume, new blocking, famous speeches, not to mention the deep sadness of leaving my own track, and the difficulty of missing Richard in the company – everything that could possibly change is about to change.

As such, Richard and I have been having a conversation (or, rather, I emailed him several pushy questions, for which I apologize, Richard) about the role and his approach. To conclude, then, here’s just a little bit of that conversation:

LB: You spend so much of the evening in a sort of one-sided conversation with the audience. What is it like to talk to them? Do you find that you establish “relationships” with any of them?

RSW: It’s always interesting to talk to each audience, because each audience is different. I try to gauge the mood of the audience as they come in, when I have those 10 minutes on stage before the show begins. Then, I try to focus their attention and bring them into the world of our play. I see that as my job to be a friendly conduit into the play and to guide them along in the story. As for establishing relationships, there have been times where I have sought out a person – usually a child – to say lines to. There have been times where I have tried to say a line to a person and they won’t look at me… and there have been those moments when I have talked directly to someone and they have smiled and nodded back to me. On the whole, I try and keep my relationship with the energy of the audience as a whole entity. I come in and out of the action with various speeches, but being on stage for a lot of the action, I feel that I can take the play forward in a way that suits that particular night’s audience.

LB: What is the most difficult part of taking on a speech that Shakespeare fans believe to be famous?

RSW: I don’t think about the speeches being famous, to be honest. I know that some people…maybe more than “some”…know them, but I say them believing that most of them have never heard the words before. I think that it’s like that for other famous Shakespeare soliloquies or speeches, too – as an actor you’re so wrapped up in the act of ‘being,’ of ‘creating’ that moment on the stage, that you have no time to fart around thinking about what the audience might be thinking about. Dinner, probably. Or, “will my date sleep with me?”

LB: You and I have wondered about Shakespeare’s use of a “Chorus,” which is a rare thing. Romeo & Juliet has one, I think. Why do you think there is a Chorus in this play?

RSW: Yes, R&J also uses the Chorus. Henry VIII and Troilus and Cressidaboth have prologues. I don’t know why he used it in this play and not in others. He almost sounds like he’s making excuses for the fact that the play has to present what may have been the greatest battle in English history up to that point, with limited resources. I think that, maybe, there was such a mystique and legend around the battle of Agincourt in the Elizabethan psyche, and that Henry V was such a hero, that Shakespeare was covering his a**, so to speak, by saying: look, we can only do so much, you have to do most of the work here. You need to use your imaginations. Chorus says it all the way through the play. “Use your imagination.” “Suppose this, suppose that.” “Use your thoughts.”

LB: The Chorus is a major and fundamental part of the evolution of Western Drama (the Greeks, etc). How do you take such an iconographic part of theater history and turn it, like you do!, into a living, breathing person?

RSW: As I said before, I use a large part of me and I transfer over to the audience. I open myself up to them. I try to convey the excitement of theatre to them, and I really try to communicate with them on a universal human level. I trust that I’m interesting enough in the way I look at them and appeal to them for them to listen. As you’ve said in terms of comedy, it’s all about making yourself vulnerable. That’s more interesting to an audience than being shouted at…although I certainly do that, too!!!

And there you have it. Some words of wisdom from one Chorus to another.

In any event, come along and see us. Richard plays the Chorus through March the 3rd, and then Dylan and I shift over on March the 5th. Come and see if I am able to process any of Richard’s excellent advice…and if I’m able to remember all of his lines.

“O, for a muse of…line?” “Think, when we talk of horses that you…line?” “Now entertain conjecture of a…line?” Haha! I kid.

On a serious note, on behalf of the entire company of Henry V, we’re going to miss you, Richard. Thank you for everything.

Until next time!

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About Louis Butelli

Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Louis has spent the past eighteen years working as an actor, teacher, director, and writer. From 1998-2008, he was Artist-In-Residence and Company Clown for the Aquila Theatre Company. During that time, he played in over 25 productions of the works of William Shakespeare and other classical playwrights, appearing Off-Broadway, at major regional houses, on tour in the US to 49 states and across Europe; taught over 300 masterclasses; wrote, adapted and appeared in a new production of Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde;" and authored numerous successfully funded grants. Other credits include Folger Theatre; La Jolla Playhouse; American Repertory Theater; South Coast Rep; LA Shakespeare Festival; Shakespeare Theatre Co, DC; Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Yale Rep; Long Wharf; Orlando Shakes; Pasadena Playhouse; Two River Theater, NJ; Alpine Theater Project, MT; La Scala Opera's West Side Story in Milan, Beirut, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo; many others. TV: The Knick (Cinemax), The Unusuals, and All My Children (ABC), Law & Order, and L&O: Criminal Intent (NBC). Louis is co-founder and Executive Director of Psittacus Productions, for whom he has produced "A Tale Told By An Idiot" (LA Weekly Theater Award) which performs again in May, 2015 for Lincoln Center Education, and "CYCLOPS: A Rock Opera" (NYMF Award for Excellence, 3 LA Weekly Award Noms, Pulitzer Prize Juror Nom) which has played Pasadena Playhouse, Ars Nova's ANT Fest, and a sold-out and extended run at the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Previously, he has collaborated with director Robert Richmond to make the short film, "Dreadful Sorry," financed by a generous grant from the South Carolina Film Commission, "Twelfth Night" and "Henry VIII" at the Folger Theater in the nation's capital, for both of which he was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Performer, winning the Award for "Henry VIII." He is honored every day he is able to go to work in the service of a great story.

Thanks, Dawn! Yeah – I should’ve mentioned in the post that Richard and I will both be returning for “Twelfth Night,” Richard as Malvolio, and me as Feste. And I agree that Richard is fantastic – he will be missed. Cheers!

Thanks Lou. I will miss you all. Sad to go on March 3rd and would feel guilty… but I know(and hear)you’ll be brilliant, The audiences are indeed fortunate to see your Chorus til March 10th. Looking forward to returning to the Folger and acting with you in 12th Night. x

We’ve definitely got a fun couple of months ahead, you and I. It’s gonna be a hoot. Meanwhile, I also totally should’ve mentioned your solo show, “Strolling Player,” coming this Summer to the Toronto Fringe Fest. People need to know! Here’s a link:

To your question: the whole understudy ensemble has been rehearsing in the day time. Eight actors (named in the post) are on “stand-by.” They don’t perform in the show, but they check in every night and come to watch periodically. Then five of us (also named above) are in the show, and also rehearse our understudy tracks. This Friday, I’ll get one “put-in” rehearsal with the company of H5, plus full tech. And then, on March 5th, I’ll pretty much just jump right in. Sort of exhilarating and terrifying all at once.

The watchmaker’s eye, and the start and select buttons are the other controllers on the instrument, and might even surprise fans by playing with his teeth while out of his car and beat the Rev. More after the break, and you must learn how to put everything together and apply it creatively in a musical manner. As you do this, as each string sends different reactions out of the country with Hank III grandson of the great chord soloists and extraordinary rhythm players.

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